Judsen Cunningham, pictured on Day 1 of his boating under the influence and vessel homicide, took his own life Thursday morning

A Florida man charged with killing two young people in a drunken boat crash has been found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the third day of his trial.

A circuit judge convened court Thursday morning long enough to declare a mistrial in Judsen Cunningham's boating-under-the-influence case and dismiss the jury.

'I have sad and disturbing news,' Judge John Jay Gontarek told them. 'The defendant in this case, Judsen Cunningham, was found deceased this morning. This is a very shocking development for everybody.'

According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Cunningham's home in Destin shortly before 7am on Thursday and found the 32-year-old man dead from an apparent suicide.

In this March 18, 2016 photo, a US Coast Guard boat passes a sunken boat near a jetty in Destin, Florida, where two people were killed

Avery Hatchett, 22, was killed in the boat crash after suffering a blow to the head. Anna Sorokina, also aged 22, was ejected into the water and her body was never foudn

Michele Nicholson, spokeswoman for the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies were called to Cunningham’s family’s home at 6.43 am.

They found Cunningham with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Nicholson said. Multiple family members were there when he killed himself, she said.

Witnesses testified that he had been drinking for hours and operating a boat with 11 other young people on board when it crashed into a jetty in Destin's East Pass, killing Avery Hatchett and Anna Sorokina, both aged 22. Sorokina's body was never recovered.

Three other passengers sustained serious injuries, including fractures and lacerations.

Cunningham was arrested six months after the accident on more than a dozen criminal counts, connection to the crash, including homicide/negligent manslaughter-BUI; homicide/negligent manslaughter and BUI causing serious bodily injury.

According to an arrest warrant, Cunningham's blood alcohol content two hours after the crash was 0.14, which is nearly twice the legal limit

A tweet from a WEAR-TV reporter shows an empty defense table after a mistrial was declared as a result of Cunningham's suicide

Hatchett's mother, Lisa (right), broke down in tears in court after hearing of Cunningham's suicide Thursday

Cunningham's defense was expected to begin presenting its case on Thursday, after which it would have gone to the jury for deliberations.

If convicted of all the charges, Cunningham could have faced up to a life in prison.

'This has been a tragic case and it is unfortunate it has ended in such a tragic manner,' said Bill Bishop, the chief assistant state attorney for Okaloosa County.

Avery's mother, Lisa Hatchett, was in court Thursday and broke down in tears after learning of the defendant's suicide.

If convicted of all 14 charges against him, Cunningham (pictured in his August 2016 booking photo) could have faced up to a life in prison

'I was shook to the core of my being. Today is such a sad day for the Cunningham family,' Hatchett said. 'It's a day I have experienced myself. I know what they are going to have to endure.'

On the morning of March 18, 2016, Cunningham took a 28-foot boat without permission, according to an affidavit.

He gathered a group of a dozen people, many of whom he did not know, after offering them to go on a short pleasure cruise in the harbor with music and beer.

Shortly after the boat's 4.30am departure from Destin Harbor, the boat smashed into the east jetty of East Pass and capsized, flinging the passengers into the water.

A dive team later recovered Avery Hatchett's body. An autopsy showed he had suffered a severe blow, likely from the boat's propeller, and drowned.

Byron Weiss, Anna Sorokina's boyfriend at the time, testified this week that the impact of the crash ejected the 5-foot-2, 120-pound woman from his arms.

The boyfriend, who said he narrowly avoided drowning himself, spent 10 minutes calling Anna's name and tried searching for her in the water, but to no avail.

'I never saw her again,' he told the court.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line: 1-800-273-8255

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Shock as man charged over drunken boat crash that left two dead kills himself on third day of trial